Self-locking lever.



L. ROMINES I SELF LOCKING LEVER.

' APPLIUATIQN FILED MAY 25, 1903. 980,008. Patented Dec. 27, 1910.

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SELF LOCKING LEVER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 25, 1908. t 980,008. 7 Patented Dec. 27, 1910.

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APPLIUATION FILED MAY 26, 1908,. I Y 98Q,OO8, Patented Dec.27, 1910.

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Elmoentoz LEROY ROI/LINES, OF MARTINSVILLE, ILLINOIS.

SELF-LOCKING LEVER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 27, 1910.

Application filed May 25, 1908. Serial No. 434,942.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEROY RoMINEs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Martinsville, in the county of Clark, State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Self-LockingLevers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements inself-locking levers.

The object of the invention is to provide a lever constructed so thatthe same may be automatically locked in any position in verse view ofFig. 1. Fig. 6 is a front elevation of a modified form of the invention.Fig. 7 is a vertical section through Fig. 6.

Corresponding parts, or features, as the case may be, are designated bythe same reference numerals throughout the views.

The invention resides, as stated, in the provision of a lever in whichthe lever-holding and locking mechanism will be automatically actuated,so that the lever can be noiselessly set and automatically locked at anydesired point, while the unlocking movement of the lever will instantlydisengage the detent to release the lever.

In the accompanying drawings, 5 designates a friction segment which issecured to a suitable frame or other support, the latter carrying alsothe shaft or pivot 6, to which a stub lever 7 is operatively connected,said lever being movable against one face of the segment 5. The leverhas a transverse slot 8 formed in its upper end. At a suitable pointabove the shaft 6, the lever 7 has secured thereto a lateral pin 9 uponwhich is pivotally mounted a hand lever 10 carrying a lateral stop pin12 which works within the slot 8, and thus limits the independentmovement of the hand lever.

To the stub lever 7 along opposite edges thereof, and near the pin 9 aresecured a pair of pins 13 and 14, which carry respectively, the lockingbars a and b, the upper ends of which frictionally engage the innerperipheral edge of the segment 5. The length of these bars is such thatthe are 00, as shown in Fig. 1 and representing the movement of the freeend of the locking bar a will intersect the are formed by the innerperipheral edge of the segment.

Fastened centrally to the hand lever is an arcuate yoke 15, theterminals of which are bent to form keepers 16 that receive the lockingbars, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. The upper ends of the bars arenormally held in the above described frictional engagement by means ofleaf springs 18 and 19, whose lower ends are attached to the bars, whiletheir upper ends bear against the connecting portions of the yokebetween the body thereof and the bent end portions 16, the tension ofthe springs forcing said bars inwardly or toward each other, as will beapparent. The disposition of the free ends of the spring between thelock bars and the curved end portions 16 of the yoke, and the extensionof said end portions past the spring ends, tend to hold said spring endsagainst lateral displacement with respect to the bars. Theyoke isfurther provided with a pair of releasing lugs 20 and 21, which aresecured thereto adjacent the inner longitudinal edges of the lockingbars.

In the operation of the invention, if it is desired to adjust the lever7, the operator moves the hand lever toward the lock bar a, for example.In this operation the lug'20 engages the lock bar a, and forces this barout of engagement with the segment 5, the pin 12 being carried by suchmovement of the hand lever to the adjacent end of the slot 8, whereuponthe continued movement of the hand lever will effect the movement of thestub-lever. As soon as the desired adjustment of the stub lever iseffected, the hand lever is released, whereupon the tension of thesprings 18 and 19, will swing the lockbars inwardly or toward eachother, reengaging their ends with the friction segment, and at the sametime, will return the hand lever to its normal position with respect tothe stub lever, 2'. 6., with the pin 12 disposed midway between the endsof the slot 8. The stub lever is thus securely locked in its adjustedposition, as will be apparent.

In the further modification shown in Figs. 6 and 7 the hand-lever isreplaced by a hand-wheel 10, to which the yoke 15 is secured, said wheelbeing loosely mounted upon the shaft or pivot 6. The friction segment islikewise replaced by a circular disk 22 which is secured to the frameand is provided with an inwardly-extending peripheral flange 23 whoseinner face is frictionally engaged by the upper ends of the lockbars aand Z2 These bars are pivoted, as in the first form of the invention, tothe stub lever 7 which is keyed to the shaft 6 and is provided with atransverse slot 8 into which extends the pin 12 carried by the handwheel 10. The stub lever 7 is adjusted by a rotation of the hand wheelin the proper direction, the adjacent lock-bar being released fromengagement with the flange 23 by the corresponding lug 20 or 21, thesprings 18 and 19 returning the wheel to its normal position with thepin 12 disposed intermediate the ends of the slot 8, when said wheel isreleased. It will be apparent, therefore, that the wheel is the fullequivalent of the lever, and that the term lever may be applied withequal propriety to both elements.

While the bars a and b are shown as frict-ionally engaged with the innerface of the flange 23, it is to be understood that said bars may beprovided with shoes which are similar to those shown in Fig. 6, and ar-;ranged for contact with the outer face of the 3 As this additionalmodification ini volves no change whatever in the operation l of theinvention, separate illustration thereof is deemed unnecessary.

The device is both noiseless and positive of operation.

lVhat is claimed is:

1. The combination with a stub lever, of a friction segment, a handlever connected with thestub lever, a yoke secured centrally to the handlever and having its terminals bent to form keepers, a pair of lockingbars pivoted at one end to the stub lever and having their free endsarranged for engagement with .the segment and their intermediateportions engaged by the keepers; a pair of springs normally forcing thebars toward each other and into engagement with the segment, saldsprings having one end 111 engagement with the keepers and the otherengL gaged by the keepers, a pair of leaf springs normally forcing thebars toward each other and into engagement with the segment, saidsprings having one end in engagement with the keepers and the other endin engagement with the bars, anda pair of lugs secured to the yokeadjacent the ends thereof for releasing the bar ends from engagementwith the segment when the hand lever is moved in one direction or theother.

3. The combination with a stub lever, of a friction segment, a handlever connected with the stub lever, a yoke secured centrally of thehand lever and having its terminals bent laterally and then inwardlytoward each other, so the inwardly extending portion of said terminalswill lie in spaced substantially parallel relation to .its body portion,a pair of locking bars pivoted at one end to the stub lever and havingtheir free ends arranged for engagement with the segment and projectingthrough the spaces between the inwardly projecting terminals and thebody portion of said yoke, and a pair of leaf springs normally forcingthe last mentioned ends of the bars into engagement with the segment,said springs being secured at one end to the bars and having their freeends projecting through the spaces between the inwardly projectingterminal portions and the body portion of the yoke.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

LEROY ROMINES.

\Vitnesses:

MINNIE ROMINES, G. W. BROSMAN.

